Lest you think calling 911 is always an option in areas with good police coverage...

Lest you think calling 911 is always an option in areas with good police coverage...

This is a discussion on Lest you think calling 911 is always an option in areas with good police coverage... within the Off Topic & Humor Discussion forums, part of the The Back Porch category; CenturyLink: 4,500 calls failed during 911 outage | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaking News | KOMO News
Note the woman who ...

Can you imagine making 39 calls about someone with a knife breaking into your house. That would almost be like having your hand in a pot of lukewarm water heating on the stove and waiting for it to boil. You know what is coming...

Luckily we have a very responsive PD in my town, but even so it takes a few minutes for them to respond (assuming you can reach them via 911 or the local number). I don't view 911 as my protection, but rather as a "witness" (recording) and backup (especially if something happens to me those first few minutes). My plan is to protect the stairwell (fatal funnel) from anyone coming to us while my wife and kids protect the hallway if anyone gets past me. I'm confident that at least two of my kids would shoot / fight if needed.

My biggest problem is that my wife feels that our security system will scare someone away like the commercials (my feeling is that this only works for amateurs and uncommitted thieves - not the really bad guys). She finally understands that good neighborhoods still get hit, so that's progress. I don't think she would shoot someone to save herself and/or the kids, so being armed could be more dangerous. Hopefully I'm wrong (or even better yet, we never have to find out).

"Historical examination of the right to bear arms, from English antecedents to the drafting of the Second Amendment, bears proof that the right to bear arms has consistently been, and should still be, construed as an individual right." -- U.S. District Judge Sam Cummings, Re: U.S. vs Emerson (1999)

Thirty nine calls to 911? Yet still no response? Sorry lady but you're 5 cans short of a six pack.

I needed some specific info once and called the local non emergency number of my town PD as it was posted in the phone book. Each time my call was transferred to 911. I was getting irate. About an hour later I called their business number one last time and again got the 911 dispatcher. I asked to be transferred to a non emergency line as my call was not any type of emergency. Her response was less than satisfactory. We had words and I ended the call.

I'm just a spoke in the wheel but not a big deal.
America...a Constitutional Republic. NOT a democracy as the liberals would have us believe. Give me Liberty or give me BACON!!!
You know that look women give you when they want some sugar? Me neither

I'm just a spoke in the wheel but not a big deal.
America...a Constitutional Republic. NOT a democracy as the liberals would have us believe. Give me Liberty or give me BACON!!!
You know that look women give you when they want some sugar? Me neither

As good as our PD/Sheriff's departments are...I live out in the country and it's probably 20 minutes away from police help at the very best. I live in a sub division but we have 2-3 acre lots, so even neighbors aren't really a help in a home invasion.

If anyone ever broke in I'd be terrified, I'd call the police, I'd be waiting for them at the top of the landing with our shotgun.

This made me laugh. It's funny how people use acronyms (in all contexts) without thinking. IP is just Internet Protocol (sometimes see as VOIP, or voice over IP). If you have cable and they provide free phone service as part of the package you have an IP phone. They're cheaper (just another device, like a cable box or computer) but have additional points of failure (e.g., if you "Internet goes down" you typically lose your phones as well).

POTS is "Plain Old Telephone Service." These are the old fashioned analog phones going over copper wire. Something like this wouldn't be susceptible to a computer virus except through the providers PBX switch.

You would be amazed at how much old technology is still in use across the globe.

If there is Enhanced 9-1-1 in your area, a POTS line automatically gives the dispatcher your address and other information as soon as it connects even if you can't talk. Some VOIP telephones now allow them to be manually entered into the 9-1-1 system for future calls. With a cell phone, you have to give the address and location. A POTS line with an analog plain telephone is powered by the phone line and does not need to plug into the power grid to work.

I have always keep an old phone on hand for just that purpose. I also use it to check the often malfunctioning phone lines here. When the hurricanes took out the power for a week the phone system back-up power failed after three days, so nothing worked.